This is an interesting formulation. I spend a lot of time telling people what we stand for and rallying the staff around our cause. My lecture usually includes details on how we help millions of people make better buying decisions and get more from the technology they already have.

I also use every opportunity to present our incredibly useful, positive, and proactive mission statement—in fact, let's review it quickly:

PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

But I don't often think about what we are against. That's probably a mistake. Some enemies are worth having, and some battles reveal who you really are.

I am not talking about the current political landscape, where we've refined the art of talking past one another. We should be able to debate public policy with respect, comity, and common purpose. I'm just drawing lines as editor, as a publisher, and as a business. I'm talking about PCMag picking the right fights. So let's get ready to rumble!

Brand SpinI get the purpose of advertising—and our business depends on it—but I'm amazed at how different the products you see in advertisements are from those same products in the real world. Setting aside the feel-good, straight-up brand building, a lot of products just don't work they way they do in commercials. Screens are Photoshopped in, animations replace interfaces, and features are invented. Vendors also push out an amazing amount of content every day across an array of channels. With some exceptions, most of it is useless at best and at worst, deceptive.

PayolaThe FTC is doing its best to crack down on bloggers who accept gifts, payments, and other incentives to write about products, but most payola goes unnoticed. Mediakix recently found that 93 percent of the top celebrity Instagrammers did not even disclose their sponsored links. Interestingly, there are actually fewer restrictions on professional journalists. But PCMag writers don't get paid by vendors, they don't keep products they test, and they can't even own individual tech stocks (mutual funds are OK).

FanboysPassion is a good thing, and we welcome technology enthusiasts. That said, slamming the iPhone because you're an Android fanboy makes no sense. The same goes for every platform out there. There is good traffic to be had stoking these flame wars and spreading random incendiary stories, but it ultimately doesn't help users make buying decisions and get more from technology. Let's argue about tech, but let's use facts.

Hack JournalismJournalists don't get a pass here, either. Plenty of professional writers publish before checking their facts or even pretending to offer facts. There's a place for opinions in tech publishing, but too many writers pass their biases off as news. There's nothing wrong with a hot take, but the vast majority of PCMag's resources go into testing products in our Lab, collecting data, and helping users get more from their technology.

I don't know if these are all fights we can win, but I'm stepping into the ring. My first punch will be this month's cover story, "Fastest Mobile Networks 2017." I think it is a haymaker (but not a comeback—this is our eighth year doing the story.) Organized by Lead Mobile Analyst Sascha Segan, PCMag editors drove through and between more than 30 cities over three weeks, testing all four major carriers' performance. They used identically configured Samsung Galaxy S8 phones and custom benchmarking software to measure download speeds, upload speeds, and overall reliability.

"Fastest Mobile Networks" is as good a snapshot as you can get of the wireless networks in the U.S. right now. If you've wanted to find out which is the fastest carrier in your home town, now you can. And our results are a lot more trustworthy than the ads you see on TV or the endorsements you see in your Facebook feed.

About the Author

Dan Costa is the Editor-in-Chief of PCMag.com and the Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff-Davis. He oversees the editorial operations for PCMag.com, Geek.com, ExtremeTech.com as well as PCMag's network of blogs, including AppScout and SecurityWatch. Dan makes frequent appearances on local, national, and international news programs, including ... See Full Bio

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